An aging cop is assigned the ordinary task of escorting a fast-talking witness from police custody to a courthouse, but they find themselves running the gauntlet as other forces try to prevent them from getting there.
A business man decides that he wants to teach school in the inner city and chooses a tough school in the South Bronx. He teaches the children how to play the game of chess, and along the way they learn a lot about life.
All his life, African-American Renato has been raised in an Italian-American family. Completely unaware that he is Black, his life is upended when his birth parents materialize, causing Renato to examine what he true heritage is.